


ShadowPOP!

by Nanubi



Series: ShadowPOP! [1]
Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Greek and Roman Mythology, LOVECRAFT H. P. - Works, Norse Religion & Lore, Original Work
Genre: Actually it's Sexual Comedy, Actually just the one, Actually not a joke tag, Alcohol, Alliance Bashing, Also not a joke tag, Anal Sex, Anatomy, BDSM, Blood Drinking, Car Sex, Character Death In Dream, Come Eating, Creampie, Dreams and Nightmares, Drunken Confessions, Eldritch, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Fantastic Racism, Foot Fetish, Futanari, Gaming, Garrosh Hellscream Bashing, Gay Sex, Gentle Sex, Girl Penis, Girls Kissing, Gratuitous Smut, Great Old Ones, Group Sex, Harems, Hell, How is that not a tag, I already have the Futanari tag so, I like simple things, I mean, I will reiterate, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Not Ashamed, I'm Sorry, I'm a simple man, Illuminati, In their underwear, It's not sexy it's functional, Just the one girl reader, Lamiae, Lolicon, Lolita, Madness, Monster Girls, Multiple Orgasms, Multiple Sex Positions, My brothers and sister, Near Death Experiences, Old Gods, Oral Sex, Panties, Phone Sex, Pillow Fights, Pop Culture, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Rape/Non-con Elements, Reincarnation, Riding, Romantic Comedy, Rough Sex, Shameless Smut, Shapeshifting, Shower Sex, Slow To Update, So Wrong It's Right, Spin the Bottle, Succubi & Incubi, Sweet, THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS, Tail Sex, Tentacle Monsters, That wasn't a tag either, That's redundant, That's right, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Threesome - F/F/F, Tirion Fordring Bashing, Twilight Bashing, Underage Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Vampires, Video & Computer Games, Vore, Wall Sex, Wing Grooming, Wings, World of Warcraft: Legion Spoilers, You beautiful, You know what you're getting into, all the sex, go to hell with me, horrible person, i went there, jesus h christ, shoggoths, succubi, surprise, surprising I know, what the fuck, you know who you are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 01:54:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10548070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanubi/pseuds/Nanubi
Summary: There are some things humanity has forgotten. There are things humanity never knew in the first place.We live in the third age. Three times Cetus, Elder God of the deep and dark places, Old One of time, has wiped Earth's timeline and started it anew.This time, things are different. The Elder Gods regret the curses they've placed on humanity. It has come to the point that Cetus even weakened himself to protect us from a possible apocalypse. Now, humans and 6 demihuman species live away from each other.Now, the Iluuminati, ancient and wise, have begun bridging the gap. Though humanity as a whole is far from ready, we grow close to a possible fourth age.Vampyres, Draug, Succubi, Lamiae, Arachne, and Forgotten are beginning to spread.And as a final gift before a dead and dreamless sleep, Cetus reactivates an ancient soul, the bridge between the mortal and the Divine.O Titania, your wings shine true. From when do you come? And to where will you go, this time?





	1. Chapter 1

The metal door shut with a harsh, final clang, leaving me in silence.

I sagged against the cool metal, reaching up to grip my locket as I panted for breath. I was safe. They couldn’t get me here...I was…

The soft sound of metal grinding together made me look up, just in time for the vent cover on the ceiling to fall to the floor with a far too loud crash. I winced, a whimper slipping past my lips before I could stop it.

“I knew I’d find you here…”

A long, slim leg slid from the opening in the ceiling, then another, then a third. I groaned as the arachnid limbs slowly gripped the outside of the opening before long, black hair fell downward.

“M-Miasma, I really need…!”

“Hush…”

Golden eyes peeked out from the opening before she twisted around and slid into my panic room, her abdomen bumping against the wall as she wavered on her legs. She looked almost drunk, the light of the Blood Moon outside still working on her mind, even through the walls and floors above us.

“Lola...Why’d you run? We just...We just want…” She came at me, her two front legs raising up almost threateningly before slamming into the door on either side of my head, her eyes rising far above me as she bared herself to me, eyes wild with desire.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…!”   
  


**ShadowPOP!**

**Part I**

**_‘Till undeath do us part_ **

  
  


_ How does one chronicle a world’s history? Through writing? Film? An award winning series of pornographic adult novels? _

_ I am sitting here on an edge. Behind me stretches infinity, dotted through with stories. Heroes slaying serpents, men making political backstabs and backhanded deals, women rising above the status quo and setting the stage for empires… _

_ But where does all of this infinity begin? _

_ Millennia ago, before even the Gods took their first breaths, the four Old Ones gifted upon our simple Earth eight gifts. _

_ Cetus, Elder God of the deep and dark places, Old One of Time, placed upon our Earth the gift of water to promote life, and the gift of darkness to protect us from the unforgiving gaze of the Forgotten far beyond our world. _

_ Garuda, Elder God of the wind and rain, Old One of Destruction, placed upon our earth cloud and storm to spread Cetus’s gifts, and the gift of Cold to bring duality and balance to the seasons. _

_ Tiamat, Elder God of fire and heat, Old One of Nature, granted earth the Gifts of Beast and Leaf, populating the empty plains with all manner of creatures, both edible and not, so that Humanity would have subjects to rule and food for our tables. _

_ However, Thaumiel, Elder God of light and dark, Old One of Creation, perverted the gifts of the others with the gift of Morality and the gift of Procreation. Forever the beasts and Humanity would have to sin to continue their species, and forever light and dark would be out of balance as war and peace fought for dominance among the human race. _

_ And as Humanity sinned, so too did they anger the Old Ones. On and on they killed each other, took their children as wives and their beasts as lovers. They took the gifts that the Old Ones granted and twisted them. _

_ The final straw was Lilith, Hel, and Maria, three human women who dared to worship Gods other than the four. _

_ Cetus took Lilith and tore away her fertility. The body and womb that she had used to rule her village were perverted. Her skin became pale and cold as a corpse, and her womb was left in tatters, forever unable to hold child. Her teeth were elongated, sharpened, like a beast's fangs, and her curse was thus: Forever and ever, her hunger would demand the blood of her fellow woman. And those she tasted, loved, and took as wife would forever share her curse. _

_ Garuda took Hel and fed on her intelligence, her hopes and dreams, leaving her thoughts as simple and innocent as a child. The wind and breeze that she had followed all her life was taken from her, leaving her unable to leave the water for longer than a day, forced to stay in the wet and cold. Her skin was left to toughen in the waves, leaving her waterlogged and slimy like seaweed. And her curse was thus: Forever her wants would be as a child, to wander without stopping, for her dreams to change every day so she could never amount to anything. And all her children would be daughters, and they would share her curse. _

_ Tiamat took Maria. But Maria was smarter than the others. Her feminine wiles and her dark, profane charm took Tiamat’s heart as it had many, many others. Tiamat laid with Maria three times, and each changed her. Her skin grew tough before forming into scales. From her back grew large, scaled wings. Her teeth grew sharp and her eyes became like a serpent’s. Maria was left as a beast among man, Tiamat’s seed changing her from the inside out into a creature only sated by that which her soul had fed on. And her curse was thus: only a man’s essence could soothe the flame in her throat, her womb, and her veins, but her children would remain as she, scaled and beastly, and they would be nothing but daughters. _

_ It has been millenia. Now six women in total have drawn the ire of the Old Ones. And each have mothered a race of beasts. _

_ The Vampyres, daughters of Lilith, hungering for the blood and sweat of man. _

_ The Draug, or Deep Ones, Daughters of Hel, endlessly seeking the secrets beneath the waves and doomed to never find them. _

_ The Succubi, Daughters of Maria, desperately seeking the balm of man to soothe their burning bodies forever and ever. _

_ The Arachne, Daughters of Arachne, whose spider-like lower bodies doom them to be hated by all, forever. _

_ The Lamiae, Daughters of Lamia, whose serpentine lower halves leave them doomed to hunt, feast, and live like beasts. _

_ And the Forgotten, Daughters of Shub-Niggurath, doomed to an endless existence of formlessness, never comfortable in the skins and furs they take, and forever seeking the Truth. _

_ But the Old Ones have felt guilt, as man does. They have given a Gift. _

_ A soul to be reborn forever, in the body of a mother, but with the gift and need of a father. _

_ O Titania...From where will your wings bring you? And where will they take you, this time? _


	2. 'Till Undeath do us Part - Sleep is for the Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hlirgh hrii hupadgh Shagg...Vulgtlagln Cetus...Stell'bsna n'gah, li'hee hafh'drn...Titania, Titania, zhro! Zhro!
> 
> Heretic followers borne of the Realm of Dreams...Pray to Cetus...Pray for death, on pain of the summoner...Titania, Titania, ____! ____!
> 
> No...Smut...Yet...!

It was the same dream.

I was sitting on a ledge, submerged in about an inch of water. and surrounding me in all directions, for miles and miles, was endless ocean. The featureless water barely moved as a soft, drab wind blew through my hair, neither hot nor cold.

As I always did, I leaned forward and looked down. The water was perfectly clear, and I still couldn't see the bottom. It just became pure blackness as the depth increased.

I leaned back, grimacing as I tilted my head back to look at the sky, trying to calm my panic. I was asleep, I knew I was, so there wasn't any real danger.

Of course, that didn't stop the fear. The water all around me didn't seem to be inhabited, no fish or whales, and yet I  _knew_ there was something down there, watching me. Waiting for me to slide from the ledge and into the endless depths.

 _Yeah, real soothing._ The thought came unbidden and I dissolved into slightly hysterical giggles.

Something moved.

I looked back down at the water as something way,  _way_ down slowly moved. It was coming...faster and faster and

 

* * *

 

 

I woke up to my phone alerting me to a text. I groaned, reaching up with a shaking hand to wipe the sweat from my face, grimacing at the light shining in from my window.

My phone chimed again, eternally insistent, and I reached over blindly. I accidentally knocked an empty soda can to the floor before grabbing the now buzzing device, squinting at the screen for a moment before bringing it up to my ear.

"G'mornin'..." I grumbled into the phone.

A soft, toe-curling laugh answered me.

"Good morning to you, too." Mina murmured, voice soft and special, just for me. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really." I told her softly, grimacing as I stretched my legs hard enough to make my knees pop. "I had a pretty terrible dream."

"Oh? I thought I told you to dream about tonight." I felt heat creep across my cheeks at that. She  _had_ alluded to...certain plans.

"I, um...I guess my mind had other plans?" She chuckled softly, and I heard a soft sound from her side, like a cushioned door closing.

"Tell me about it, Lola."

"I have this dream every week or so..." I mumbled, feeling my face flush again. "I'm, like...sitting on a shelf of rock, and there's ocean all around me...It's really deep, and I feel like something's watching me from way down...This time that something was coming up to me. My phone woke me up."

"I'm glad." Her voice held an odd, nervous sort of tone that made me frown. "That sounds...actually, that sounds like Hell."

"Are you afraid of the ocean, Mina?"

"Aren't you?" We laughed together, until my alarm blared angrily at me.

"Fuck." i whined. "I have to get ready for work."

"Aww." I could hear the smile in her voice. "It really is too bad you have a stable source of income and a boss that literally loves you."

"Rude." I told her, unable to hold back a smile of my own. "I can't wait to see you tonight."

"I can't wait either. What's the place called, again?"

"Zoltan's." I told her, wiggling a bit as a tickle bothered at the small of my back. "It's on the south side of town, a few blocks from the Pop. I know I asked this already, but you like Italian, don't you?"

"Yes, Lola." She said, laughing softly. "I can't wait to have a Lady and the Tramp moment with you. Am I the one nudging over the meatball, or are you?"

"I don't know..." I murmured, smiling up at the ceiling. "I guess it depends on how open you are to me bending you over my bed."

"Lola..." She murmured, a dark edge in her voice. "I really,  _really_ want you. All this teasing we've been doing has really messed up my sleeping schedule."

"Oh yeah?" I asked faintly, my blush returning full force.

"Before I fell asleep last...I stretched out in my bed, and I burned some sandalwood...I thought about you while I--"

_THUD THUD THUD._

"Jesus." I breathed, my voice shaking. "I think someone's at my door, Mina. I've...I've got to go."

"Aw. I like you bunches, Lola. Keep your thoughts clean at work today."

"I'll try." I breathed. "I'll see you tonight, Mina. Like you bunches."

_THUD THUD THUD._

"Have a good day, Lola."

She hung up before I could draw out our conversation any more, and I sighed.

_THUD._

"Lola!!!"

_THUD._

"Lola!!!!"

_THUD THUD!_

"Get up and smell the daisies,  _Lola!!!"_

_THUD THUD THUD THUD!_

"I'm coming, Maddi! Jesus!" I shouted, hauling myself out of bed.

And then I stopped, staring down at the highly noticeable bulge in my panties.

"Oh, fuck."

 

* * *

 

 

POP!gasm was like a second home to me.

The little shop was nestled between Dr. Armani's little pharmacy and a taller apartment building, set up downtown. The shop had an interesting sort of infamy around town.

I kind of got it, as I opened the door and was assaulted with the cathartic, gritty bass that Primus was so well known for. I smiled, breathing in the smell of new fabric, fresh plastic, and the subtle hint of lemongrass from Mark's office.

The walls were lined with shelves, stuffed with  _everything._ The music section towards the back was categorized by genre and alphabetically, and the movie section was the same. There were T-shirts for otaku-types, music fans, video game nerds, and fans of sarcasm and assholery. And of course, a full wall of televisions for whatever me, Maddi, or Mark wanted to show. Today, some streamer was raiding in WoW and shouting insults and curses to whatever boss he was butting heads with just under the music.

The entire shop was lit with a mixture of black lights and truly enormous lava lamps, along with the giant plasma balls in each corner flickering "lightning" against their glass prisons.

It was a haven for geeks, nerd, gamers, otaku, and everything in between.

And nerds came from out of state, even, to shop here.

"Lola! Go in already, I need to pee!" I slipped inside, holding the door for Maddi as she dashed inside. I grinned after her, amused as she grabbed a customer around the waist and spun them both before disappearing into the women's bathroom.

"Maddi! Quit fucking with my customers!" Mark's voice barked from his office. I heard Maddi cackle from inside the bathroom.

The customer grinned at nothing in particular, going back to her browsing as I slid into the circular counter in the center of the store and logged in.

"Lola?" Mark called from his office. "Come in here for a minute?" I frowned, closing out the POS system and moving past a teetering wall of fresh stock.

I poked my head into Mark's office, grinning at the doujin he had open on his work laptop.

"Hi, bossman." I teased, and he looked up, smirking through his thick, glorious beard.

" _You_ are late, girly." He said, patting his desk as he minimized his doujin and opened up a Word document. "I need to chat with you for a minute."

I stepped into his office, closing his door and sitting on the edge of his desk as he rubbed his face, frowning at the document.

"What's up, Mark?" I asked him, kicking my legs out as he grimaced.

"Some asshole made a complaint." He said, sounding angry, exhausted, and sad all at once. "About you. In the fucking bathroom."

"Jesus." I muttered, my mood plummeting.

"I let her know in my sweetest voice that, in my humble opinion as owner of this establishment and your boss, that bigots can get fucked."

"You didn't have to--"

"And I let her know that if she comes back to make trouble, that I have no qualms about contacting the police."

"Mark--"

"And I closed out our conversation by mentioning that if the police didn't dissuade her, that I am good friends with a 300 pound bear that serves as a bouncer for LaVogue's who wouldn't mind having a chat with her about human rights and decency."

He looked up at me, green eyes shining with barely suppressed rage, and I couldn't help but smile down at him.

"Thank you, Mark." I told him softly. "You're the best."

"I know I am." He snarked, turning his laptop toward me. "Now I need you to fill this out."

"Incident report?" I asked, leaning down to squint at the screen.

"Actually, it's a tax form. For your promotion."

I looked up at him sharply, frowning at his mildly insane smile.

"Why are you promoting me?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because you're the best." He said, nudging the computer closer to me. "And Maddi isn't ready for a management position yet. And I can't run this place alone. And you're  _really_ popular with most of our customers. And you know the most about video games out of all of us. And--"

"Okay, okay! I get it." I took the laptop from him, setting it on my lap and staring at the form. "You didn't have to do this, Mark."

"Yeah I did." He said, standing with a soft groan and ruffling my hair, to my amusement. "How else can I keep my competition from stealing you away?"

"What  _competition?"_ I scoffed. He grinned.

"There's a Hot Topic, oh...three? Four towns over?"

"Ass."

He laughed as he started towards the store, before stopping and turning to me.

"Oh, and this stock here. I need your opinion on it."

"Oh?" I peered at him as he tore open a box and rifled around for a moment before showing me the paperback in his hand.

I felt my cheeks catch on fire at the...scene...on the cover.

"Should we hide the new hentai section, or should we display it with pride?" He asked with a nasty grin.

"Fucking...I don't...I can't... _Mark."_

"So hide it, then?"

" _Yes,_ Mark!"

 

* * *

 

 

I sighed with relief as I slid the last paperback into place on the new set of shelves hidden near the bathrooms.

The little hallway had once been storage, off limits to customers. Now...

"Jeez..." Maddi muttered, her cheeks burning as she put away her own last paperback. "Never figured I'd even  _see_ this much porn, let alone  _touch_ it..."

"I never figured you were a prude, Maddi." I teased, my own blush maybe making my teasing less believable. She sniffed haughtily, straightening as she tugged at her shirt.

"Well I know  _you're_ not, Lola." She grinned a nasty grin, flicking her eyes downward. I turned my hips away from her, feeling my blush deepen. "You know I'm just teasing."

"Well quit it." I copied her sniff, and we dissolved into giggles.

"You guys can go ahead and head home." Mark called from within the store. The music cut out, leaving my ears feeling oddly full. I shook my head, just as Maddi did.

"You wanna take me home?" Maddi asked me, batting her eyelashes at me. I smirked, reaching out and pushing her face away from me.

"Can't." I sniffed, moving towards the store.

"What? You  _always_ take me home!" She followed me, feigning rage as I went to the register to log out.

"I have a hot date." I told her, scowling down at the register. "Mark, it's fucking up again."

"Never mind that!" Mark slid up, leaning against the counter as he batted his own eyelashes at me. "Who's the lucky gal? Someone we know?"

"Yeah, details, details!" Maddi copied Mark, smiling wickedly. "Who's getting dicked down?"

"Jesus!" I banged my fist against the top of the monitor, scowling. "Guys, I'm not..."

Wait. Wasn't I? I started blushing all over again as I remembered the conversation over the phone I'd had with Mina just that morning. I found myself lost in fantasies, practically feeling Mina's touch as she--

"...Lola! What's wrong with you?" I flinched, blinking hard as I turned to my coworkers. Mark had an evil, disgusting grin stretched across his face, while Maddi just smirked at me.

"You don't know her." I muttered. "She lives a few towns over. We met online."

"And? The dicking down?" Maddi asked, her sweet voice clashing horribly with her choice of language.

"...Probably happening...After we eat..."

"Ooooooohhh!!!" Mark squealed like a schoolgirl, wiggling as he and Maddi started to dance. "Our little Lola!  _Gettin' her some!"_

" _Guys!"_ I gasped, covering my ears. "Jesus, stop!"

"We're just so happy for you!" Maddi cried, leaping forward and grabbing me in a tight hug. "You've been single for so long! After Amelia..."

I winced, gently pushing Maddi off of me. "Amelia was a mistake."

"She was a bitch." Mark corrected, reaching out to ruffle my hair. "And this girl...?"

"Mina's awesome." I said, smiling without meaning to. "She's strong and sexy, and she doesn't take any shit, and she's played WoW since Vanilla...!"

"A dominant gamer chick? Oh, Lola, you've found your soulmate." Maddi giggled, and I glared at her.

"I'm going to be late if I don't get going. Mark, can you run Maddi home?"

"Of course, Lola. Have a  _good night."_ He waggled his eyebrows at me as he bumped me away from the register with his hip and started logging Maddi and himself out. "Go on, Lola. See you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Mark." I bumped him back before heading to the door. "Bye, Maddi."

"Sleep well! Or, y'know... _don't!"_

 

* * *

 

 

Zoltan's was a tiny little building, made of warm brick. Outside, a blooming garden surrounded the entire building, and every few feet within the dark iron fence were thick stone bowls holding a campfire each.

The sign was written in lightning bolts, along with Zoltan's mascot in a thick-lined, old school style licking the fingers of one hand and holding a bowl of pasta in the other.

All in all, there was a strange mix of silliness and badassery that spoke of the owner.

There was only a single car outside, immediately worrying me. I slowed down as I passed it, staring with wide eyes.

"She's got a  _Camaro?"_ I breathed, pulling into a parking spot. I sat in my seat for a moment, trying to think if she'd mentioned the fact that she obviously had  _cash._

No. She hadn't.

I hauled myself out of my car, brushing my hair down best I could as I followed the familiar path through the garden into the building. Opening the door immediately assaulted me with heat and the smell of garlic, oregano, tomatoes, and wine.

 _My third home._ I thought, amused as I walked past the empty greeting room.

And then I saw her. A dark head of hair that fell into ringlets around a pale, adorably round face. Green eyes looked up at me and widened, full, pink lips parting slightly.

She looked at me like I was a goddess. My breath caught in my throat at the burning passion in her eyes, almost religious in its intensity. I swallowed hard, moving up to her table.

"H-hi, Mina." I breathed. She took a deep breath, staring into my eyes before reaching out and brushing her fingers against my jaw.

"You're so much more beautiful in person..." She whispered breathlessly. I bit my lip, staring at her as she carefully took my face in her hands, stroking my cheeks with gentle fingertips.

"Mina..." I whispered. "We...I..."

My stomach growled. Loudly.

The spell broke. She laughed softly, eyes sparkling with sweet, inner light as she took her hands from my face to tuck her hair behind her ear.

My skin felt...too hot, without her soft, cool touch. My entire body flushed with heat as her gaze swept across my body before she slid back into her booth.

I slid in across from her, trying to catch my breath as she picked up her menu.

And she was definitely  _not_ looking at it. her eyes were far away, like she was staring at her own thoughts.

I reached out and gently pushed the menu down onto the table. She looked up at me, a question in those endless green eyes.

"You're a lot more beautiful in person, too." I murmured, my cheeks heating all over again. "And we're not ordering from the menu."

"Why?" She asked.

The answer was an enormous crash from the kitchen, making her flinch.

"Fucking Christ on crackers!" The heavily accented, vaguely russian vaguely middle-eastern voice shouted from beyond. The voice boomed like thunder.

"Sergei! Watch your fucking mouth! We have customers!" The second voice was an avalanche, if the first was thunder, and I grinned.

"Don't tell him what to do!" I shouted back, making Mina jump. "It's a free country!"

" _LOLA!!!"_ The second voice practically roared, and a mountain of a man shoved his way out of the kitchen, his white apron covered in grease stains and tomato sauce. He jerked me out of the booth and crushed me to his barrel chest with tanned, hairy arms, spinning us in a circle.

"Zoltan himself! God of Thunder, master spaghettoire!" I shouted back, and he roared with laughter.

"Little Lola!" He set me down and grabbed my shoulders, staring down at me critically. His thick, dark eyebrows lowered over small, stormy grey eyes, and he patted me hard enough to make me stumble. "You are not  _eating!_ What is, what is this, you eat the carrots and the celery, the  _broccoli?_ You go to  _brunch?_ Sit!" He pushed me back into the booth, slamming his fist against the table and shaking it even though it was bolted to the concrete floor.

"Maybe I would eat right if you'd just marry me." I told him, batting my eyelashes, and he laughed again, punching the table again.

"I would break you! You, you little tiny girl! Strong men need strong men, no?"

"Leave me out of this! I want nothing with your madness!" Sergei roared from the kitchen, and something crashed again. "Master spaghettoire, indeed! Lola! He makes the sauce with his fists! His  _fists!_ What, with his meaty hands like a fucking  _ape!_ "

" _Your_ ape, Sergei!" Zoltan patted my shoulder, peering down at me. "You want the thunder, yes, Lola?"

"For two." I told him with a grin. He finally peered over at Mina, who actually looked scared.

"Lola! Long have I waited for you to waltz into my home with a sweet girl! Romance! Passion! Spaghetti!" There were stars in his eyes. "This is Disney! Yes! A princess and her strong foreign friend, finding her true love and enjoying far too much food! Yes! The thunder! I will be back with it!"

He actually skipped back to the kitchen, roaring with laughter and automatically ducking as he opened the door. A wooden spoon, soaked with tomato sauce, flew through the air where his head had been mere moments before, clattering across the floor.

"Flirting with women! You fucking ape!" Sergei shouted, and Zoltan bagan shouting back as I turned to Mina with a smile.

"Friend of yours?" Mina asked, her voice strangled. I couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face.

"Zoltan's like...My uncle, and my brother, all at once. And he's as gay as they come. I think he's Russian, but he acts like even he doesn't know when people ask." Mina nodded, eyes finally beginning to sparkle with humor as another crash sounded from the kitchen.

"No! No thunder! It is not on the menu!"

"How would you know, Sergei? I wrote the menu!"

"And I laminated it, you dirty ape! Make her order something else!"

"Lola deserves the best! The thunder is the best!"

"It is sloppy and without direction, like you!"

I laughed. I couldn't stop myself. I had missed the two, even though I saw them around town sometimes.

"How am I without direction? Look! This is north, this is west!"

"You  _know_ that is not what I meant! No thunder!"

" _Yes,_ thunder, Sergei! I will be making the thunder, with or without you!"

"You would still be in Chechnya without me!"

"No, I'd be in Dubai!"

"You've never  _been_ to Dubai!"

Mina actually giggled at that, and i couldn't help but reach across the table, taking her hands in mine and grinning like a fool.

"Isn't this romantic?" I asked her, barely managing to speak without laughing.

"Fuck flowers and chocolate." She agreed. We dissolved into laughter just in time for Sergei to storm out of the kitchen, his enormous, pale form stalking up to me.

He patted my cheek, almost like a  _very_ gentle slap, and frowned.

"You are a bad influence." He said.

"Aww, you know you love me, Sergei." I replied, smiling up at him. He scowled, patting my other cheek.

"Bad. Very, very bad. I will make the thunder, on account of your dating, but I will not like it."

"You could just give up and put it on the menu, Sergei. It would outsell everything else."

"No." He pouted, lumbering back toward the kitchen. "Sloppy and directionless."

 

* * *

 

 

I pulled up into my driveway, sighing happily as my stomach protested just how much I'd eaten. Mina had matched me bite for bite, which made me happy. We had both lavished praise on Zoltan and his unwilling second in command, which Sergei had secretly been pleased about.

I smiled as a slim black sports car pulled up behind me, the lights cutting immediately so I wasn't blinded. I killed my own lights before turning my key, having to tug harder than I should have to get it out. My door screeched angrily as I opened it, and again as I slammed it shut, leaving me a bit embarrassed as Mina slid from the jungle predator that carried her around.

"I'm jealous of your car." I told her. She smiled, stepping up beside me and twining an arm around mine, eyes sparkling with amusement as she leaned into me.

"I regret buying it." She said, winking at me as I led her toward the door. "I don't think I can ever be happy with anything else, now that I have that monster. Have you ever hit 120 on an empty stretch of road?"

"Um...No?" I offered, unlocking my door and leading us inside. "I'd be too afraid of turning myself into taffy...Or a pancake."

"It's amazing. The world turns into runny paint."

"That sounds...terrifying." I flipped the lights on, illuminating the hallway that served as my entry room. There were doors on either side of us, the left leading to the dining room and kitchen and the right opening up on my living room.

There were stairs ahead of us, leading up. Tucked behind a doorway just to the left of the stairs was the way to my basement.

"Cozy." Mina murmured as I showed her around. "Sandalwood?"

I sniffed, frowning at the lingering scent.

"I put it out before I left." I told her as we headed upstairs. "Maybe I should open a window."

"Or you could just light some more." She said softly, voice growing husky as she dipped forward to speak quietly into my ear. "I burn some whenever I think about you...I can't help but feel a little something, smelling it in your house. Is it too early in the evening to head to bed?"

From the way she said it, I figured she didn't mean sleep. I swallowed hard, heat flushing through my body as she leaned down to press her face into the crook of my shoulder, her arms winding around me. I carefully returned her embrace, letting out a shuddering breath as she stepped forward and pressed flush against me, her curves fitting snugly against mine.

"Mina..." I breathed. "I...I've been working all day. I sh-should probably take a shower."

"Mmh." She breathed, looking up at me through her lashes, cheeks flushing softly as our eyes met. "Want some help?"

I gulped.


End file.
